I like this thought

What would the U.S. do in Iraq if we decided to act completely in our own self-interest? I suspect we would give the Kurds control of the country. We could give the Kurds, say, $20 billion a year, all Iraq's oil and large amounts of military equipment. In return they would promise to:

(A) Keep Islamic-terrorists out of Iraq.

(B) Stay out of OPEC.

(C) Be guided by U.S. foreign policy when dealing with nations such as Iran and Syria.

We would have no expectations that the Kurds would ever allow other Iraqi ethnic groups to have any political power. Any Iraqi group that objected to the arrangement would be ruthlessly dealt with by the Kurds.

Perhaps this pro-Kurd policy should be our announced backup if our current Iraqi policy fails. Such an announcement might motivate Iraqi Sunnis and Shiites to cooperate with us.